NEW YORK, NY.- Steven Kasher Gallery announces the Vimeo release of a new seven-minute, black and white video on Thomas Roma and his latest body of photographs, In the Vale of Cashmere. This “video poem”, directed by Rachel Liebling, combines three elements; photographs, a voiceover of an interview with Roma, and music. Produced by Steven Kasher, this is the first in a series of videos about projects and issues in the world of photography.

The video focuses on Roma’s most recent project, a sequence of black and white portraits and landscapes photographed in a secluded section of Prospect Park called the Vale of Cashmere. It is a meeting place where black, Latino and other gay and bisexual men have long sought one another out to fulfill their wish for community and to satisfy sexual desire. In this exclusive interview, Roma opens up to the viewer about how and why he made these photographs.

Rachel Liebling says, “Tom's photographs reveal a deep connection to his subjects -- his mastery is capturing the humanity of the men and the beauty of the Vale in a way that is universal. I wanted the film to honor that connection and convey the sense of wonder I feel when I look at the photographs.” Roma says, “It is not in my power to raise anyone up. All I can do is make a connection. I’m trying to make photographs that belong to the people who look at them, and the only way to do that is to connect with their own humanity, not mine, because mind might not measure up.”

Roma’s work has appeared in one-person and group exhibitions internationally, including one-person shows with accompanying books at the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, and the Wallach Gallery at Columbia University, NY. He is a two-time recipient of Guggenheim Fellowships (1982 and 1991). Roma is the founding Director of the Photography Program at Columbia University School of the Arts where he is a Professor of Art.

Rachel Liebling is an award-winning filmmaker specializing in arts, music, and biographic subjects. Her critically acclaimed feature, High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music, was one of six films selected for Tribeca Films 2013 touring series: "American Music: From Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway." Several of Liebling's screenplays have been developed for production, including Grievous Angel, a dramatic feature about country-rock legend Gram Parsons, and The Devil's Dream, a dramatic feature adapted from traditional American murder ballads. She is currently developing a dramatic television series about the poet Emily Dickinson.